GETTING STARTED – before you even start to restore a photo
This tutorial is the first of a series designed to help novice photo restorers learn how to unleash the power of photo repair software. It is designed as an overview only, and does not go into detail about how to use the various software tools. Future tutorials will look at each of the most common photo fixing tools in detail.
NOTE: We will use Adobe Photoshop as our reference software while discussing use of tools etc. because it is the industry standard. However, many of the tools and methods we will discuss can be done with much cheaper photo repair software packages.
It is a good idea to start with whatever photo fixing software you can afford, and upgrade if you decide that you would like to do more challenging restorations. Use software that is specifically designed for photo restoration. It needs to include these basic tools and filters: Clone Tool, Crop Tool, Sharpening Filter, Dust and Scratch Filter, Color Correction, Saturation Correction, Lightness Darkness Correction. The software you choose should allow you to make manual adjustments while using tools and filters. It is desirable that the software also offers a preview of the changes as you make them. For example, you should be able to select a tool such as Sharpen, and then be able to add more or less sharpening and see the effect on the photo in real time.
Selecting suitable photos in need of restoring
So you found a shoe box full of old family photos that you want to restore. Depending on the condition they are in, you should be able to restore many of them yourself.
To start out you will want to select an easy subject. Look for a photo that is in pretty good condition. It should not have damage to important areas such as the face. It should be in good focus and not too dark or too light. It should have a small amount of dust and scratches to be repaired. Choose a black and white photo so that you don’t need to deal with color shifts or color damage.
Getting a digital copy of the photo into the computer
Photo repair software packages work with digital photo images. The first thing you will need to do, is obtain a good scan copy of the photo you wish to restore.
Assuming you have a scanner, here are some scanning tips:
• Scan at 300 dpi or choose high photo quality or whatever your scanner suggests for scanning photos.
• Scan all photos in color including black and white photos. You will convert to black and white during the restoration process.
• Scan the photo only, and not the entire scanner bed. The final scanned photo should not have a lot of white space around it. You can do this in your scanner preview window if necessary. Use your mouse to move the dotted lines to each side of the photo before scanning.
• You could make adjustments to such things as contrast, color, sharpness, etc. using the scanner tools, but is usually better to use your photo restoration software instead. So turn off all enhancements before scanning a photo. However, if you have a very dark photo you may want to try to lighten it up in the scanner preview window before scanning.
Inspecting a photo to determine what needs to be fixed
Open the digital photo file in your photo restoration program and have a good look at it. You want to identify defects which need to be repaired. Large cracks will be quite obvious, but if you look carefully, you should also find many finer defects.
Biggie Size your photo
Make sure that you size the photo as large as possible in a maximized program window while working on it. In Photoshop use “View” Fit to Screen. And you may want to try the “Full Screen Mode” while working with a tool such as the Clone Stamp.
Zoom Zoom
Your software should allow you to zoom in and out and move around in an image in order to review small sections at a time. You will want to use this feature in order to closely inspect the photo. In Photoshop use the Zoom Slider in the Navigator Window or Control + to zoom in and Control – to zoom out.
Zooming in on an image is also very useful during the restoration process. You can’t see the small defects unless you zoom. Old photos will have many defects that you will want to identify and fix. A photo might look good when viewed on your monitor, but not so great when printed. Minor defects are greatly magnified if you attempt to print larger than the original photo size. So the more defects you can find and eliminate, the better your prints will be.
Defects - Dust Spots
Look for dust spots. Dust will show up mostly in the lightest and darkest areas. You won’t see the finer dust spots unless you zoom in and look around.
Defects - Scratches and Cracks
Scratches and cracks could be anywhere. Some will be quite obvious, but many fine scratches and cracks will not be visual unless you zoom in and look for them.
Too dark – Too light – Too much or too little contrast
Your software program should allow you to adjust the lightness, darkness and contrast of your photo. You should wait until you repair the defects first before making these final adjustments. However, if the photo is really dark or very light it would be best to make corrections so that you can see the defects better.
Dust and Scratch Filter
During the inspection process, you determine the amount of dust and or scratches that you will need to deal with. Applying the Dust and Scratch filter will reduce the amount of dust, scratches, and grain in a photo. Use this filter sparingly because it will also soften the image as well. In most cases it is best to wait until you have finished all repairs before using the filter.
The one exception would be a very bad photo which has a very large amount of dust and or scratches. In this case you will want to try to filter out some of these defects in order to reduce the amount of restoration work required.
In Photoshop you will find the filter under “Filter” “Noise” Dust and Scratch.
If your restoration software allows you to preview changes, take advantage. Zoom in on an important part of the photo such as a face, before applying a filter. Apply the filter at a low setting then review the results. If there is still a lot of dust and scratches, undo the change and run the filter again at a higher setting. Experiment until you achieve an image with fewer defects.
However, you need to check important detail, such as the eyes, to make sure that you don’t go too far. If the eyes start to loose a lot of detail you need to back up a bit. The idea is to strive for a balance between defect reduction and retention of sharpness. You are not trying to remove all defects but only the worse ones. The rest will be repaired later by extensive use of the Clone Stamp Tool.
In Photoshop you can toggle changes off by pressing Control Z, and back on again by using Control Alt Z.
Sharpen Filter
Never sharpen a photo until it is fully restored. You don’t want to emphasize the faults before you fix them. This should be the last step in the restoration process.
In Photoshop always use the Unsharp Mask filter which can be found at “Filter” “Sharpen” Unsharp Mask. Don’t ask about the strange name. This filter allows you greater control so use it if available.
The next Tutorial will discuss the use of the Clone Stamp Tool in detail. It is one of the most utilized tools during the restoration process. It is used to sample a good section of a photo next to the defect to be fixed. Then you stamp over the defect replacing bad detail for good. The Clone Stamp Tool is great for removing dust and scratches. It can also help replace large missing pieces of a photo.
Even though we will discuss the Clone Stamp Tool in the next tutorial, you should start to experiment with it now. The more practice you get, the more skilled you will become. Once you have mastered this tool you'll be well on your way to photo restoration nirvana.
Gerry Legere
